Clean Drinking Water For Flint or Build The Wall?

In the wake of the "Build The Wall" gofundme, a Battle Creek resident just started one for Flint residents.

At the moment I'm writing this, the fundraiser started by Brian Kolfage of Miramar, FL has reached $17 Million toward the $1 Billion goal to build a border wall on the US / Mexico border. Regardless of your political beliefs it is troubling how an entire American town has been forgotten during a tragic, yet man made (government made) crisis. At the same time, many Americans have passionately banded together for a wall.

Kris Hammond of Battle Creek started a fundraiser using GoFundMe.com on December 21st. Kris told me what lead him to start this GoFundMe,

To be totally honest it was all the attention that the border wall GoFundMe was getting we are all guilty of mentioning Flint here or there when anyone is always talking about funding and government and problems in America I just wanted to be the one to actually say hey I at least tried to do something about it like I'm not just going to talk about it I'm going to be about it and I might not be able to do much but it's the small things that count and we all have to build on those small things to turn them into big things.

We are almost 5 years into the Flint Water Crisis according to Wikipedia,

In April 2014, to save about $5 million in under two years, Flint started treating water from the Flint River instead of purchasing Lake Huron water from Detroit. Previously, the Flint River was the backup water source.

If you are a Flint resident, you have to do LOTS of prep to brush your teeth, shower, cook...never mind simply having a drink of water. Flint water has been connected to 12 confirmed deaths and countless illnesses and learning disabilities. Imagine trying to sell your home so you can move your family to a city with clean water. Believe me, nobody is buying.

The problem is...there are so many problems. Do a google search and you'll find story after shocking story on how the the State of Michigan, the Genesee County Health Department and the City of Flint have let their residents down when they were needed most.

Let's not forget this problem is more wide spread than Flint. We had PFAS water problems in the Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids areas last summer.